Burros beat Granite 79-74

The Burroughs boys basketball team looks to be heading to the playoffs.With the Burros’ 79-74 win over Granite Hills Wednesday in the Burroughs Barn, the Burros now own the third-place tiebreaker over both Barstow and Granite Hills.“I don’t think there is anything anyone else can do to catch ...

RIDGECREST — The Burroughs boys basketball team looks to be heading to the playoffs.

With the Burros’ 79-74 win over Granite Hills Wednesday in the Burroughs Barn, the Burros now own the third-place tiebreaker over both Barstow and Granite Hills.

“I don’t think there is anything anyone else can do to catch us, but you never know,” BHS Coach Doug Hayes said. “But I was happy for our seniors who got to go out with a win. They came out and had a good night.”

Justin Aichlmayr, Jesse Young and Jon Kauppi — the three Burroughs seniors — went out in style as the team scored its highest total of the season. It’s the second-highest total Burroughs has scored over the last two years.

“I thought that everyone shot the ball very well,” Hayes said.

The Burros shot well from the free-throw line (12-of-15 for 80 percent), shot well from inside the arc (20-of-39 for 51 percent) and shot well from 3-point range (9-of-22 for 40.9 percent) in the win, which began to take shape in the second quarter.

The Burros took control of the game in the second frame with a 10-1 run that started with rebounding the basketball. The Burros had four offensive rebounds in one possession during the run and finished that possession off with a 3-pointer from guard Michael Polman.

Young, Alexander Ledford, Calvin Martin and Kauppi all got offensive rebounds during a first half in which the Burros outrebounded the Cougars 19-7.

However, the 3-pointer kept Granite (7-15-1, 2-8 DSL) in the game. The Cougars hit seven first-half 3s with Chandler Redix answering the Burroughs run with two quick 3-point shots to tie the game at 27-all. Redix hit three first-half 3-pointers and was the Cougars’ main offensive weapon for most of the night.

The half wasn’t quite over, so Burroughs (8-12, 4-6 DSL) went back inside and got two baskets from Ledford, then cashed in a pair of free throws by Michael Polman to close the second stanza on a 6-0 run.

Polman had 12 points at the half, while Martin had eight to lead the Burros into the intermission. Both players took their momentum from their first-half performances into the second half.

Martin added another eight points in the second half to finish the game with 16 points and nine rebounds.

“It was Calvin’s best game in a while, but he has to ready to play like that every night,” Hayes said. “Hopefully, that’s a step in the right direction. Being able to rip through, get to the basket and finish once he gets there does a lot for our offense. It does a lot of things for a lot of people.”

Page 2 of 2 - Martin, Kauppi and Michael Polman combined to put together a 10-2 run at the beginning of the third quarter, which gave the Burros an eight-point advantage. The Burros’ lead at 43-35 was the second largest of the game.

To open the fourth, Polman and Martin combined for a 6-0 run, which gave the Burros their biggest lead of the game at 57-46.

After Martin made the last shot of the 6-0 run, the floodgates opened offensively. Neither team could miss from anywhere on the floor.

Eleven 3-point attempts were made in the final 7 minutes of action, Redix made four for the Cougars on his way to a 29-point night, while Matt Polman hit two for the Burros. Polman also had another in the third quarter as he found his shooting stoke late in the ball game.

“I thought it was nice to see Matt kind of shake off the shooting blues in the second half,” Hayes said. “He started finding the rim and finding the net, and it was nice to see shots go down. It was a good for Matt.”

Kauppi hit one 3-pointer and Michael Polman hit another two. Michael Polman — who has now been the Burros’ top scorer throughout the Burros’ homestand — finished the night with 29 points to match Redix’s game high. It was another quality outing for the young guard.

The Burros bigs — Martin, Young and Ledford — combined for 32 points and 21 rebounds in the win.

“To see those guys going to the rim was definitely encouraging,” Hayes said. “I was happy with how our bigs played tonight.”

Young had eight points and six rebounds, while Ledford had eight points and eight rebounds. Kauppi finished his last game in the Barn with seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Aichlmayr added one rebound to round out his last game in the Barn.

The Burros move on to play Silverado at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Victorville.